Beija Cachaca Review

We have to tell you - it's easy to get jaded when you're in the liquor review business. We're sure you wouldn't believe us, especially since we've received gallons on gallons of free hooch to sample and write about, but it can get pretty ho hum to see ANOTHER bottle of vodka or whatever show up on the doorstep. But we had an experience a few days ago that helped us shake off the cynicism and see things in a new light. It's something we should do more often anyway...we actually met the folks behind some of the liquor we planned to review.

The scene was set at the Green Street Grill (this visit renewed our love affair with the place, and we can't remember why we stopped going in the first place), and the booze was Beija, a "virgin cane rum" that's been getting some buzz in Boston. The meeting was with Kevin and Steve, the brains behind the operation, and they'd done some pretty hard work to break us from our natural homing instinct of "drink near bed." So how did the evening unfold, and more to the point, how did we like Beija?

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Rio D Cachaca Review

We're not haters, but there are a few things we dislike intensely here at Liquor Snob. One of them is missing the chance to review some great new booze before a lot of people have had a chance to try it. Another is making mistakes. We're afraid that when it comes to Rio D Cachaca, we did both.

We received bottles of all three varieties of Rio D (plain, lime-flavored, and 'passion') way back in June of '07. Somehow through a SNAFU in the shipping and receiving department, those bottles got lost in the shuffle. (OK, you got us - we put the box somewhere stupid when we moved and didn't find them until recently)

We've finally had a chance to try them and write up our thoughts, but we have one question - did all that extra bottle aging skew the results?

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RioD Cachaca Arrives for Review

This just in - flavored liquor tends to be a good seller. Just look at the success of flavored vodkas and rums, and you'll know there's a niche to be filled for just about any kind of flavored booze. One liquor we hadn't thought about seeing move into the flavored field yet was Cachaca, but it appears that day is here already.

We just got in samples of three varieties of RioD, a premium Cachaca that we received in unflavored, "passion" (which we're guessing is passionfruit), and lime-flavored. We haven't had a chance to try it yet, but we're looking forward to reviewing it for posterity. Expect us to make many, many varieties of everyone's favorite drink (well, ok...ours at least), the caipirinha.

NightLifeInABottle.com

Boca Loca Cachaca Review

We have to say we feel like we're becoming pretty good at comparing Cachacas (y'know, that Brazilian rum we keep talking about?) after having sampled several different brands in the last year. We've had our bottle of Boca Loca for a little while now, and we've finally gotten around to trying it in earnest. After checking out the Boca Loca site, we found the company offers guidelines for how to recognize a quality Cachaca. Our first thought was to wish we'd seen that info a year ago; our second thought was to see how Boca Loca stands up to its own quality guidelines - after all, it's sold as a premium product.

So how did the Cachaca live up to its recommendations? Read on to find out.

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Agua Luca Cachaca Review

We've already called 2007 as the year Cachaca will take the U.S. by storm, and the bottle of Agua Luca we've got sitting here in front of us is one of the contenders hoping to do so. Marketed as an ultra-premium label, Agua Luca is coming straight from Brazil to your glass - and being filtered 12 times in between.

Read on to find out how Agua Luca measures up to our demanding requirements for whipping up Caipirinhas.

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Agua Luca Cachaca from Heaven Hill

OK, we're calling it - Cachaca is going to be the hot "new" liquor this summer, and the caipirinha is going to be to 2007 like the Mojito was to 2006. Expect to see bigger brands coming out with Cachacas moving forward.

Just call it a hunch. Well, that and we're already seeing it happen. Heaven Hill is going to be the first big name to distribute Cachaca, with an offering called Agua Luca. It'll be interesting to see how the liquor fares with the possible new limelight, considering up until now it's been considered a lesser-known bastard cousin of rum (at least in the States). All we know is Cachaca has a hardcore following and the caipirinha damn near tops our list of favorite drinks.

We've just gotten our bottle of Agua Luca, so you can expect a full review soon to find out if this stuff can go toe to toe with some of our artisinal favorites.

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Beleza Pura Cachaca Review

A couple weeks back we got a package in the mail containing two bottles. Within these bottles were two variants of Beleza Pura Cachaca - one the straight deal, and the other a Caipirinha liqueur made with the stuff. We've heard good things about Beleza Pura, so we were fired up to give that a try, but we've had less than awesome experiences with pre-made cocktails.

So how did the two variants measure up to our expectations? Read on to find out.

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How to Make the Perfect Caipirinha

There's something about Caipirinhas we just can't put our finger on - the combination of tart limes with a touch of sugar, capped off with the clean taste of a fine Cachaca...you'd be hard pressed to beat it if you ask us. Not quite as frou frou feeling as the Mojito but with a class all its own, we're damn big fans of this Brazilian import. It's even gotten us to give up on our "no fruity drinks" rule...but don't worry, we're no less cantankerous.

If you're wondering how to make one for yourself, check out this video from Fazenda Mae de Ouro's Cachaca Dave over at Caipirinha State University. We can vouch for the recipe and it makes a great drink - it just tastes so good when it touches your lips.

Cuca Fresca Cachaca Review

Cuca Fresca Cachaca
Sugar Cane Rum Imported from Brazil
80 Proof (40% ABV)
Typical Price: About $20 per 750ml for Silver
About $25 per 750ml for Pura Gold
Website

We've been sitting on our review of Cuca Fresca for a little while, mainly just because we haven't had the time to dedicate to writing it up. We've finally gotten our acts together, and jotted down our thoughts on both the silver and gold expressions of their Cachaca. We know you've been waiting with bated breath, so go to town.

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Frisco Fish Cachaca Review

Frisco Fish Cachaca
Sugar Cane Rum Imported from Brazil
80 Proof (40% ABV)
Typical Price:
About $15 per 750ml for Silver
About $17 for Gold
Currently available in Texas
Website

We've really been getting into Cachaca lately, which isn't a surprise considering how much we've always liked Rum and they're sort of like distant cousins. In fact, we dig the drink so much we've even started a new Cachaca category so you can check out our coverage of this relatively new liquor to enter our lives.

The latest item on our chopping block is Frisco Fish, a triple-distilled Cachaca that is imported by a company down in Texas. It comes in two varieties - the silver, which is bottled immediately after distillation, and the gold, which is aged for at least a year in oak barrels before bottling. We're starting to see more "gold" Cachaca around lately, and we've been interested in trying them out.

As a little bonus, we've got a few ads that will put some cheesecake in your Caipirinhas; scroll to the bottom of the review to check them out. We have to say the Frisco Fish folks know how to get us interested in their product.

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Cachaca Dave Hits the Big Time

For a while there, we were starting to think we got our wires crossed on the whole Cachaca thing. We'd been reading and hearing all sorts good things about Leblon, but when we finally got a chance to review their Cachaca, it kind of left us cold. Don't get us wrong, it wasn't horrible, but after the glowing reviews we wanted more.

Maybe the reason we were so unfazed by the whole Leblon thing was the fact that we'd tried Fazenda Mae de Ouro cachaca before we had our first sip of Leblon. When we compared them we thought it had a cleaner taste, less bitterness, and an overall better Caipirinha experience. So we wondered why weren't they getting similar props to Leblon? Then we remembered that one brand has a multi-million dollar budget behind it, and the other doesn't have much more than the passion and dedication of its importer.

Dave Catania, aka Cachaca Dave, from Fazenda Mae de Ouro is the hardest working man in show business (OK, cachaca business), and it's nice to see him get some recognition like the blurb from Food and Wine magazine that names him a "Tastemaker" of 2006. Check out the snippet - Dave's the third one down - and learn more about the drink that's going to make him the Sydney Frank of Cachaca at Caipirinha.us.

Leblon Cachaca Review

Leblon Cachaca
Distilled in Brazil; Aged in France
80 Proof (40% ABV)
Typcial Price: About $30 for 750ml
LiveLoveLeblon

We've had our bottle of Leblon Cachaca for a couple weeks now, and it didn't really cross our mind to question what "Leblon" meant. A last name? An acronym? We weren't sure. But after digging around through their site for a while (a site that has an overabundance of mail nipples, if you ask us) we found out that Leblon is a "hip, upscale beach neighborhood adjacent to Ipanema in Rio de Janeiro."

Sounds like a cool place to be, but does Leblon live up to its hipster name? Read on to find out.

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Leblon Cachaca Arrives for Review

We've been drinking so much Cachaca lately we're thinking we might turn Brazilian. In fact, we wouldn't be surprised if we woke up one morning speaking Portuguese with that extra-shorn feeling in our bathing suit area, but that's beside the point. We've heard some pretty good things about Leblon Cachaca, but we haven't tried it yet. Luckily, we just got our hands on a cute little bottle of the stuff and we'll be reviewing it as soon as we can.

See below for some quick info from LiveLoveLeblon.com:

Made in Brazil from the first pressing of fresh sugar cane for a lively fruity nose. Then lightly aged in cognac casks in France for an ultra smooth taste.

Leblon Cachaca is the perfect mixer for any cocktail, from the Caipirinha, the national drink of Brazil, to twists on classics like the margarita or cosmopolitan.

Cabana Cachaca is Coming to America

We're hearing more and more about cachaca, and while we've only tried a few kinds we're kind of digging it. First of all, you get to make caipirinhas, which much like Capoeira, totally kick ass. Second of all...well, there really doesn't need to be a second of all because of the whole caipirinha thing. We'll be reviewing Mae de Ouro cachaca this week and we just stumbled across a press release for another kind we'd never heard of...Cabana Cachaca.

They're touting the whole double-distilled thing to move their cachaca out of its historical realm of peasant drink, and it sounds pretty interesting. Each cachaca we've tried has been very different even though they're all made from pressed sugarcane, and we've found recipes where it can stand in for vodka, rum or even tequila if you get sick of caipirinhas, which we don't foresee. This stuff's a little more spendy than we typically see at $35 for 750ml (we're usually seeing more like $20-$25 for a liter), so it'll be interesting to see what you get for the bucks.

Read on for their full press release.

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